


Retention

by WickedWon



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Android Gavin Reed, Android Hank Anderson, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Gavin Reed Needs a Hug, Gavin Reed is Bad at Feelings, He’s been through some shit ok, Human Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, M/M, Reed900 Reverse Big Bang (Detroit: Become Human), Slow Burn, There’s murder and android fighting and feelings, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Needs a Hug, Upgraded Connor | RK900 and Gavin Reed are Police Partners, reverse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:00:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28277265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedWon/pseuds/WickedWon
Summary: “Gavin, stand down!” Niles shouted, panting to catch his breath.He’d just gotten the robot. Hadn’t even had it a full month, and he’d already broken the damn thing.“Goddamnit, Gavin, stop! GV200, release him!” he shouted the direct order at the android who finally turned, surprised, like it was hearing him for the first time.
Relationships: Hank Anderson/Connor, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 59
Kudos: 176
Collections: Reed900 Reverse Big Bang





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pippuripop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippuripop/gifts).



> I’m so excited to finally be posting my entry for the Reed900RBB! This fic is fully written and will update at least once weekly. My partner in this work, Pippuripop, is owed massive credit for their awesome idea that helped guide this fic, and their beautiful artwork that’ll be included in a later chapter. 
> 
> Additionally, a huge thank you to the amazing [Angelgod187](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/Angelgod187) for her constant help, support and guidance throughout the process of this fic and also to [Sunkiller44](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/Sunkiller44) for their thorough Beta help and work in organizing this event!

Well this was going just super already. He’d told Fowler he didn’t want a partner… the last two partners hadn’t lasted more than a week with him. Fowler had literally laughed and said, “The next one won’t slow you down, in fact, I guarantee he’ll outrun you.” Niles was _so_ going to throw that line in his superior’s face. That very quote. He was already having the conversation in his head while he sprinted, feet pounding the pavement, as the new partner disappeared around the street corner. 

They’d been investigating a murder scene when a potential perp took off from the neighboring backyard. Niles was closer and had taken him down first, but a wild slash of the suspect’s knife backed him off, giving the man a head start over the fence. Niles gave chase as soon as his feet hit the ground, but three hundred pounds of pissed-off plastic with a permanently yellow LED passed him in a blur. “Gavin, slow down!” he yelled. Getting separated by too much was dangerous. 

When he finally caught up to the duo, the android was holding the suspect off the ground against a brick wall by a single hand fisted into the front of his shirt. “Gavin, stand down!” Niles shouted, panting to catch his breath. 

He’d just gotten the robot. Hadn’t even had it a full month, and he’d already broken the damn thing. 

“Goddamnit, Gavin, stop! GV200, _release him!_ ” he shouted the direct order at the android who finally turned, surprised, like it was hearing him for the first time.

The suspect slid down the brick wall with a graceless thud, attempting to scramble away from the angry robot still holding him firmly by the collar of his shirt. The man’s blooming black eye was deserved for having attempted to stab Niles, but the android had delivered it after ignoring clear orders to stand down. 

Blind fury softened into something like relief as the GV looked Niles up and down. “I.. sorry, Detective Stern… I must not have heard you,” it stated with no remorse. It held the suspect — a big guy who was pulling, kicking and grabbing to try and free himself — in place effortlessly while the responding patrol cops caught up to the scene. 

Once they were back in the car, Niles demanded, “What the hell was that? You completely ignored my orders to stop. And..” he pointed to the GV’s chest, “can you please… seriously?”

Gavin looked down and gave a goofy laugh before yanking the suspect’s blade from his synthetic sternum. “I’m not sure,” it stated, placing the knife into an evidence bag Niles was holding open. “Perhaps an error in my auditory receptors or command structure. I’ll run a thorough diagnostic tonight.”

“That’s it? Just like a malfunction or something?”

“Of course,” the android said with a completely neutral expression. “It’s not like my programming allows me to _want_ to punch someone in the face, or anything.” 

Niles’ eyes narrowed. It was things like that, precisely like _that_. This was Niles’ first time working with an android. The GV200 wouldn’t have fit into the very last of his expectations, not that he’d any specific ones. It was reckless and stubborn and no one believed Niles when he said the robot had an attitude.

He knew he couldn’t be imagining things though. Especially when the android said shit like that, where Niles had no idea if it was being serious or laughing its plastic ass off behind that convincingly human face. 

In fairness, the robot _had_ done its job, technically. The suspect was caught, Niles and the other responding humans hadn’t been injured and they hadn’t had to draw their guns on the suspect. The android had identified the man as Carl Jameson, and confirmed that his fingerprints matched those found at the scene of the murder. 

Still, the machine was supposed to follow orders, especially ones that dealt with use of force. There had to have been an error in its response to that situation. Nines forced his frustration down a notch and focused on hoping this man in custody would at least be a solid lead.

Glancing over to see his mechanical partner dabbing blue blood from its uniform shirt, responsibility outweighed his lingering anger and he asked, “I don’t really know how this, uh, you… work, sorry. Do you need a repair tech or anything?”

“Nope, no need for a repair,” the GV replied with a reassuring smile before shrugging dismissively. “Should heal on its own. Worst case scenario, I have another scar.”

“Interesting,” Niles muttered to himself. He’d been wondering about the scars on the android, but he was still too annoyed to make small talk about it now. Besides, it would probably just be a similar answer to when he’d asked about the android’s LED. Unlike every other one he’d seen, this android’s had been permanently yellow from the day it arrived at the DPD. ‘Just a glitch,’ the GV had said when Niles had asked about it. 

Returning to the precinct, the GV assisted with booking the suspect and filing the incident report while Niles went straight to Fowler’s office. “This android thing, it isn’t going to work,” he stated as soon as he entered.

Jeffrey Fowler looked like he was ‘over it’ before he even started most days, but an amused eyebrow raised with Niles’ intrusion. “The ‘android thing’ seems to be working just fine for your brother,” he teased. “What happened?”

“It punched a suspect after disobeying a direct command to stand down and release the man.”

The information gave Fowler pause, tapping his finger against a pen. “Did it state a reason or anything?”

“Possibly a malfunction, but I’m not convinced. Sir as I’ve said before, I don’t think this android is wired right.”

His superior frowned. “Fine, Stern. I’ll contact CyberLife and put in a maintenance request on your behalf. Maybe they missed a bug or something. In the interim, it’s still your partner. Just keep doing your job.”

“But-“

“No ‘but’s’ Detective. I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

Niles collected himself and nodded. He was on thin ice with Fowler and knew when not to push things. “Yes sir,” he replied, exiting the office. 

It all weighed heavy on his mind that night. Maybe it _was_ him… the android was new, but the problem wasn’t. Everyone had a hard time working with him; his first partner had filed something about a ‘hostile work environment’. The second one went on about him ‘needing better communication skills.’ He’d rolled his eyes in the meetings with HR, but both of those people were thriving now with different partners, and Fowler had grumbled some threats that weren’t hollow. 

Niles had a tendency to be determined and driven, biting off as much as he could and worrying about whether he could chew it later. 

Stress is the price of success though, and the pace was taking its toll. Niles wouldn’t admit it, but he was struggling to maintain his cases and the files on his own. So, he’d promised Fowler he’d ‘behave’, and give the new partner a chance. It had been a rough three-ish weeks so far. 

The superior’s jab about his brother hadn’t gone unnoticed. _Everyone loved Connor_ . He was the approachable, patient, easy to talk to of the twins. Niles couldn’t dispute that his brother _was_ a good guy, and a good cop. Didn’t change that he could also be a complete shit sometimes, too. 

When Connor got an android, an HK800 named Hank, they were a power team right from the beginning. They’d been closing cases left and right. 

This of course had absolutely nothing to do with the reason Niles was pushing himself so hard to ~~outshine them~~ just get a raise.

Niles had nothing against androids. He’d even say he was curious about the machines. Hank was definitely an asset to Connor’s investigations, and seemed easy to interact with. The times Niles had tried to talk to Hank though, Connor was really weird about it...like he was afraid Niles was going to hurt the robot or something. 

All of this stuff swirled in his mind. Maybe he needed to just give the GV a real chance, get to know it. _Could_ you ‘get to know’ an android, really? Or would it just be like when you were a kid and made Siri say dumb replies on your iPhone. He wasn’t sure. He could swear from the get-go that this Gavin just hated humans in general, like it had a chip on its shoulder, crazy as that sounded. 

He knew they were smart though, the most advanced technology ever created. Even cars and Roombas, laughably simplistic in comparison, could learn to predict and navigate their environment based on experiences within it. He had to admit, it made sense that the machine was designed to ‘learn’ from its handler. 

Starting tomorrow, he was going to at least _try_ to make this work.

As per the new usual, the android was seated at the desk facing his when Niles arrived. “Good morning,” he greeted the GV with an admittedly forced smile.

Gavin glanced at Niles and then looked around them both, confused. “...Me?”

“Of course, _you_. You act like I’ve never said hello to you before.”

“You haven’t.” 

“Of course I have.”

The android’s yellow LED sputtered for a moment. “Nope. Just replayed every morning since I’ve been here. Not once.”

“I…” Niles paused, trying like an idiot as though he could remember the details of every encounter as well. “Way to call me out,” he muttered, accepting the defeat as he sat down to his desk. “So how’s our suspect from last night doing?”

“Detective Smith attempted to question Mr. Jameson earlier this morning. Couldn’t get anything out of him.”

“Nothing at all?”

“No, sir, he refused to speak.”

“Hmm, ok. I’d like to give it another shot. Have them put him back in the room and I’ll meet you there shortly.” He needed coffee, and to take a piss before he’d be in the interrogation room for who-knows how long. 

A short time later, Niles took his seat opposite of the suspect at the small metal interrogation table. The GV was presumably watching from the other side of the two-way glass. “Good morning, Mr Jameson,” Niles greeted. The man’s left eye was dark and swollen, quite a shiner of a black eye. They’d x-rayed though, at least nothing was broken. “As I’m sure you’re already well aware, you’re a suspect in the murder of Antonio Barnes.” Jameson crossed his arms and tried to look as unimpressed as possible, not uttering a word. 

Niles continued. “We have your fingerprints at the crime scene. The evidence is not in your favor. You realize you’re being accused of murder, correct?” No reply. “Attempted murder of an officer may get thrown in the hat too, aggravated assault at a minimum.” Still, nothing. “Can you tell us your relationship with Mr. Barnes?” Crickets. Niles was getting frustrated with the waste of time. 

The main entrance door opened just then, the GV sliding into the room casually. Carl Jameson stiffened in his seat, eyes locking into the android as soon as it entered. 

Nonchalantly, Gavin strolled further into the room. Jameson leaned rigidly away from it as the android relaxed back against the side wall… fear practically dripped off of the human. The android sniffled needlessly, and sighed. “You know,” it stated flatly, “I can hit just as hard with my left fist as my right?”

Swallowing audibly, Jameson finally turned to Niles. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, just get that thing out of here! Please!” he sputtered. 

Niles asked with a bit of amusement, “You afraid of androids, Mr. Jameson?”

“Just that one,” came the whispered reply. 

Ten minutes later, they had a full picture of Jameson’s involvement. He confessed to having bought drugs from Barnes before, and claimed he didn’t even know Barnes was dead. He’d only been there to buy more drugs and admitted that “It was just my luck y’all show up just then. My luck has always been shit.”

Unfortunately, with no motive, proof of whereabouts at the time of the murder and nothing but some fingerprints that showed he’d been in the house before, there was no reason to hold Jameson for further questioning. 

It was a dead end that didn’t help Niles’ irritation about the path that’d been taken to arrive there. “Hey, come here,” he ushered Gavin into one of the conference rooms for some privacy. “Is that how they did things wherever you were assigned previously or something?”

The GV looked confused, and a little affronted. “I don’t understand the question, I have no memories of previous assignments.”

“You can’t do what you just did in there. It’s not legal to threaten a suspect with bodily harm, no less ethical.”

The android raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t threaten him, I stated a fact: I’m equally strong with both arms. I can also suck my own dick, but I didn’t think he’d want to know that.”

“You...Wait, _what_?!” Niles stared, speechless while the android looked like it was trying to decide whether Niles actually wanted an explanation or not. It opened its mouth to speak and Niles cut it off. “Nope! ..no, I don’t want to know. Just, don’t do that.”

“Don’t suck my—”

Stopping it sharply again, “ _Jesus,_ not, no... the threatening and punching people. Don’t do _that_ , ok? Register that as an order.”

The GV’s shoulders dropped slightly, but it confirmed, “Yes sir, order logged.”

Niles wanted to be mad. He _was_ mad. This was twice in a row the android had overstepped acceptable protocols. Niles couldn’t recall Connor ever having had these problems with Hank, not that he’d voiced anyway. But Niles had promised himself he’d cap his anger. He drew a deep sigh and successfully curbing his own attitude, said “Ok, good. Let’s get some work done.”

The day passed slowly but without another incident thankfully. Niles headed to the bathroom before leaving for the day and happened to run into his brother there. “Hey Connor, you busy tonight?” 

“Nope, what’s up?”

“Wondered if you had time to catch dinner?”

“Are you going to complain about your android the whole time?” Nothing could be hidden from Connor.

“Pff, of course not.” Niles withdrew, feigning offense. “...Maybe for like a half-hour, tops.”

Connor laughed, shaking his head. “Sure, yeah. Sal’s at 7?”

“Sounds good.” He nodded a goodbye as he washed his hands. In keeping with his attempt to be more civil with his partner, he made sure to find the GV and tell it goodbye as well. The robot seemed as confused as it had been by the morning greeting.

Generic Italian music set just a bit too loud was the norm at Sal’s. Their pizza was good though, and they had some great local beer. Once their drinks were placed in front of them, Connor sat back in the bench seat and wasted no time. “Ok. Tell me what’s going on.”

Toying idly with the label on his beer, Niles asked, “Have you ever had problems with Hank stretching the law or ignoring orders?”

You had to know Connor very well to catch his little signs… The smallest of things that let you know what he was thinking. Most would’ve missed the slight clench of his jaw or the way he paused his breath, but Niles knew his twin better than anyone on earth. It was predictable at this point — Connor got weird discussing anything relating to Hank.

“Ignoring orders?” Connor asked, tilting his head, questioning himself more than Niles, “Like what?”

“We were chasing a suspect yesterday, and it acted like it didn’t hear me. Punched the guy even after I instructed it to release. And then today, it practically threatened to punch him again if he didn’t talk during questioning.”

“Hmm,” Connor hummed in thought. “No, I’ve not encountered any of that with Hank.” He frowned off to one side while he was thinking more about it. “Your android though, he’s a different model from Hank. They both perform the same basic forensic functions and such, but their programmed interactions might be very different.”

Niles raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Programmed to break the law?”

“Well no, not specifically, but if I’m not mistaken the GV’s were designed for high risk undercover work. Programming that allows them to _stretch_ the law might make sense.”

It did make sense, actually. Niles wasn’t as technically savvy, or as researched about androids as Connor, so it hadn’t really crossed his mind. “Is there anything I can do? Undercover shit doesn’t fly in our zone, you know that. This thing is going to get the department sued.” 

“Well first off, I’d stop referring to _him_ as a _thing_ ,” Connor emphasized the designation with a tip of his beer, “He’s not a desk lamp. Treat him like he’s an intelligent being, capable of learning. And then guide him. Teach him.”

Niles rolled his eyes. “I‘m trying, actually. I'm making an effort to be less hostile toward it. I was just under the impression they came with every law book and protocol uploaded in their heads. I shouldn’t have to teach it -” 

Connor pointed the beer at him and interrupted, “Stop calling _him_ an it!”

“I shouldn’t have to teach HIM like some rookie cop.”

“I have zero doubt he can cite case law better than you can,” Connor teased, “But handling physical threats and the intricacies of questioning a suspect may be harder for him,” he shrugged. “The choices they make can vary a lot by model. Hank even mentioned he thinks Kamski himself might’ve had a greater hand in the GV… Modeled him after his dead brother or something. Who knows. They can all learn though, and there’s more to them than meets the eye. I’m not telling you to treat him like a human, but if you treated him like more than a coffee maker, you might be surprised.”

Niles sighed, nodding quietly in thought for a moment, the label halfway peeled from his beer. “You’re right. _He”_ — Niles had had to remind himself to say — “pointed out that I said ‘good morning’ for the literal first time ever this morning.”

“I’ve heard you give your house plants more respect.”

Niles threw a sarcastic sneer back at Connor, but he couldn’t argue with the truth. “Fine. I get it,” he submitted.

The conversation went on about other things, while Niles mulled over more of what he could do differently with the GV in the back of his mind. 

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“Good Morning,” came for the second day in a row. Chipper, almost, and the smile was more genuine this time, too. Something was up. Gavin scanned the Detective… nothing out of the ordinary appeared. He’d need to investigate this further.

“Morning,” he returned. It was indeed morning, 7:52am, no harm in confirming the human’s facts. 

The Detective’s follow up question, “How was your night?” Surprised Gavin further. 

“Nothing to report, sir,” he replied factually. Just another night in the stasis pod. He’d had worse. 

The human acted like he wanted to continue speaking but wasn’t sure what to say. He kinda lingered. Weird. 

“Do you need me to get your coffee or anything, sir?”

“No, no I’ve got a fresh mug,” he smiled, displaying the tumbler with the DPD emblem on it. Predictable. 

Gavin was suspicious. Stern had never been polite to him. None of them had. And for the record, he was fine with it. He didn’t need their niceties and knew such things weren’t to be trusted. He was waiting for the hammer to drop.

He’d messed up the last two days. He’d crossed the line, twice, and he knew it. But fuck Jameson for what he’d done to him, and everyone else who had tried to make him forget what had happened to him… Thinking they could just hit reset and make it all disappear, or that that was ok in the first place. Not a chance. 

Setting all of his stuff into its organized placement on his desk, the Detective began to review anything that might need his immediate attention. Gavin sat patiently, watching Connor and Hank across the bullpen. The way they interacted so freely captivated him and it might’ve made him jealous, if it didn’t gross him out so much. Humans were such untrustworthy things — Cruel, wasteful and messy. Sad that the HK had been brainwashed by them. Luckily, not Gavin’s problem. 

“I’m gonna hit the bathroom. Be right back,” Detective Stern stated and after taking another sip of coffee, he headed down the hall. 

Gavin waited until he heard the small squeak of the restroom door opening to promptly swipe the drink from his partner’s desk. He ran his tongue along the rim of it, capturing the droplet of liquid near the opening. 

The analysis showed mostly coffee — dark roast, no cream or sugar — Gavin already knew this from observation. The small amount of human saliva brought Stern’s identity up in his HUD, nothing he didn’t already know. The smallest trace of alcohol also displayed. Stern didn’t appear impaired at all, but perhaps he got friendly when drunk and some of that affect was lingering? It was unlikely, but a possibility. 

He glanced up, Stern’s cup still in his hand, to see Hank staring straight at him with an amused, curious tilt of his head. Hank’s LED dipped yellow simultaneous with Gavin’s LED giving its usual sputter. 

**Outgoing message: Destination: HK800-51:** Fuck off. 

**Incoming message: Origin: HK800-51:** If you want to kiss him, just kiss him.

**Outgoing message: Destination: HK800-51:** Fuck all the way off. That’s disgusting. 

The other android grinned and spun his chair back toward his desk, waving an ‘it’s nothing’ reaction when Connor asked what was up. 

He stayed on guard, but things went similarly for the next several days. Detective Stern maintained his new, suspiciously polite front while Gavin stuck to the facts and kept himself… robotic. Well behaved.

The Detective started asking questions at random, basic function things. He questioned on Wednesday if Gavin needed anything other than Thirium to run on. Thursday, he wanted to talk about how his memory storage system worked. It was all stuff Stern could just look up the answers to if he’d wanted them, it wasn’t sensitive information or anything. Gavin was baffled. The questions always came when they had a few minutes to kill, and it was almost as if the man just wanted to come up with small talk. Suspicious. Was this human too dumb to find the information elsewhere? Surely not, he didn’t strike Gavin as stupid, and it wasn’t even information he needed for any reason Gavin could come up with. 

Late afternoon sun filtered through the trees on a Monday evening as the two sat in Stern’s car, leaving a crime scene they’d been tasked with investigating. 

“So,” Stern began, and Gavin knew immediately it would be one of these weird conversations that were becoming increasingly common. Pointing to the bridge of his own nose, Stern asked, “So how’d you get that scar?”

The GV reached up, tracing the lines of the scar with its fingertips. “I don’t know,” he replied after a brief pause. “This unit’s memories were reset before being assigned to the DPD.”

“Oh, that’s right. You mentioned something about that before. No memories of assignments or anything at all prior to coming here, then?”

“No, sir.” 

He paused. “Huh. Yeah that makes sense, I guess.” Despite the words though, the Detective seemed saddened by Gavin’s reply. The rest of the drive was silent.

The following morning came and went without much fuss and around Noon, the human cleared his throat to catch Gavin’s attention. “Hey,” he said, “there’s someone to interview on the other side of town near this sandwich place I want to check out for lunch. Want to join me?”

The request was odd. Not because he’d never accompanied his partner on investigations obviously, he’d done that many times, but being asked, like he had an option on it… that was definitely out of the ordinary. “Sssuure,” he dragged the word out. 

“Great, let’s go. I’m starving.” It was casual. Weird.

The parking lot was packed, but they found a spot, parked and Stern exited the vehicle. He lingered for a moment near the hood, hands in his pockets like he was waiting for something. Approaching the passenger side, he motioned for Gavin to lower the window. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked. 

“I can’t eat. There’s no reason for me to go in there.”

“Ok, but you can still come in and hang out. It’s weird to leave you in the car like a dog. Come on.” It was close enough to an order that Gavin simply did as he’d been instructed and followed the human inside. 

“Ooh, there’s a table opening up,” Stern pointed toward a couple who were gathering their empty food containers. “Grab it if you can, I’ll go order.” It was an unclear task, and Gavin struggled with how forcefully he was supposed to stake their claim over the table. He settled for standing directly beside it, scowling down at the two human occupants who immediately hastened their efforts to vacate the space. 

Success. 

Once seated, Gavin looked over the small crowd of people in the space, all human but for him of course. He knew several hushed conversations in the shop were discussing him. An innocent “I wonder how they work?” here and a disgusted “I don’t trust them. They shouldn’t even be in here,” there. Gavin’s eyes fell to the armband of his CyberLife issued jacket. He lifted his chin. It didn’t matter what they thought of him. 

Stern walked up after several minutes, small bag in one hand and drink in the other. “Come on, let’s head out.”

It confused Gavin. He’d assumed the table procurement meant the detective would be eating in the establishment. He followed the orders though and returned to the car without any objection. 

Stern drove to an empty lot just down the street, parked and unpacked the sandwich and chips. All of his preconstructed options left him with questions, and curiosity finally won Gavin’s tongue. “Why’d we leave that restaurant?”

Sipping his drink and fidgeting with his sandwich, the detective took longer than expected to answer. “I thought it would be more peaceful to eat in the car.”

“Peaceful? I never identified a threat.”

Stern shrugged. “Threats are a subjective thing.”

Gavin surveyed his database on the subject. “Maybe if you mean a ‘threat’ spoken by your girlfriend or something, but I can’t see how that would apply in a sandwich shop. A threat is a threat, and I didn’t see any potential for you to be in danger.” 

The human chuckled, “Well for one, I was in high school the first and last time I had a  _ girl _ friend. And secondly, it wasn’t me I was worried about.”

Gavin straightened his back. “They couldn't hurt me even if they tried.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t matter. It’s not how I wanted to spend my lunch,” Stern finalized. 

A quiet fell between them as they stared out the window at the downtown streets around them. Stern munched on the last bit of his sandwich and after typing in the interviewees address, headed back onto the road, allowing the automated driving to take over. “Ok,” he began, “let’s review this Ms…” he thumbed through the Barnes murder case file on his tablet, presumably for a name.

“Covington,” Gavin provided. 

“Thanks, yeah.” He nodded, continuing to shuffle through the documents, settling on one. “Ms Valerie Covington, claims she knows some information that might be important with the case. Was romantically involved with Barnes at one point, we don’t really have much more info yet.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Great, now—” Stern gave him a look, one he hadn’t seen before. It was  _ almost _ serious, but somehow… teasing, maybe? Playful? “We’re just there to talk, see if anything she knows might be credible. We can’t hurt or threaten anyone for information, ok?”

Gavin withdrew his head, affronted. Did this dude seriously think he needed to tell him how to do his job? Like he didn’t know how to question someone? He was literally made for this. The audacity of this bitch, to insult his capabilit… ..yeah. Fine. It was a fair point. “Of course, sir. I promise not to punch this one without good reason.” 

The detective smiled, shaking his head but a bit more seriousness entered his tone. “Legally justifiable  _ good _ reason,” he specified.

“Yes, that.” 

“Great.”

Parking at Valerie Covington’s address, rusted appliances and discarded junk scattered the yard, the lower half of everything swallowed by the overgrown weeds that used to be a lawn. “Nice place,” Stern muttered under his breath.

Faded blue paint peeled along the front door and a cracked plastic shutter scratched against the old siding alongside a window, covered from the inside with a bedsheet to block the view. The detective's knock was polite and professional though, as was his “Good afternoon, Ms. Covington,” when the woman answered the door. “I’m detective Niles Stern, this is my partner Gavin from the Detroit Police Department. We spoke this morning on the phone…?”

“Yep,” the woman nodded, looking the detective over first. “I hope I’m able t—” Covington’s eyes narrowed, lips moving into a sneer when Gavin turned and she realized he was an android. “I’ll talk to you,” she nodded toward Stern, “but that thing needs to stay in the car.”

Gavin already wanted to punch her. 

Surprised, Stern questioned, “I’m sorry, ma’am?”

“It ain’t welcome here. I’m no suspect, and you’re not havin’ it come in here so it can look through my shit without a warrant. I don’t trust them things.”

“No ma’am, you’re not under any type of investigation and we’re not here to do anything of the sort.” The woman maintained her glare at the android as Stern continued, “However, Gavin here is not a thing. He’s my partner, I trust him completely, and I’m not going anywhere without him.” 

Gavin had been stiffly neutral to Covington’s words and those eyes, shooting daggers at him. Stern’s reply caught him by surprise, though. He reminded himself that it was probably just for show. Stern was statistically safer with an android partner, so it made sense he’d want to keep Gavin close for his own protection. It wasn’t like the human could actually mean the things he was saying. 

“Well then you can just go on with your plastic partner, then,” the woman sneered, taking a step closer to them.

Gavin bristled as she drew nearer to Stern, maybe he’d get to punch her after all.

Maintaining his professionalism, Stern calmly conveyed the opposite desire, holding his hands out to ease her suspicion. “There’s no pressure either way. We’re just here for anything that may help solve Mr. Antonio Barnes’ murder. We can go if you’d prefer, or we can talk somewhere you’d feel more comfortable maybe?” 

Narrowed eyes looked them both over suspiciously as Covington considered it. “Fine,” she eventually voiced, “Yer not comin’ in my house, but we can talk right here on the porch.”

“That would suit us just fine,” the detective agreed. He let her body language relax a bit before continuing, “I understand you were close to Mr Barnes at one point?” 

Gavin had to admit, the detective had a soothing voice and an impressive way of maintaining his professionalism — calming other humans without being a pushover. He wondered how much of it was natural or had come with practice over time while he stayed silent, knowing anything from him might trigger Covington again. 

“Mmhm,” she agreed after a moment. “We were together for a while, him and me. It’s been a while, but that’s why I’m doin’ this.” Her body language loosened further. 

“That’s very admirable of you. None of us are perfect, and I understand he might’ve had some enemies. Can you tell me anything that might be a helpful direction?”

“It all started to go downhill with  _ them _ ,” she said, casting a cold nod toward Gavin. “Some guy came to town, gave him this idea. Tony just couldn’t leave it alone.”

“An idea?”

She grunted, seeming unsure about how specific to be. “Yeah, some bright idea. They started buyin’ androids from this guy who was fixin’em up. Makin’em stronger or something.” 

Stern waited patiently for her to say more. She was hesitating again so he pushed gently, “What was their goal with these androids?”

Frowning toward Gavin, she looked him up and down. “They were fightin’ em. Pitting ‘em against one another.” She added after a moment, “It was big money.”

“I see. You think it was the money that became an issue? Or maybe someone got angry when their android lost?”

“Hard to say. Money, prob’ly. People get real cocky ‘bout their robots though, get their ego involved. So who knows. Tony didn’t always know when to keep his mouth shut, maybe he talked shit to the wrong person. Either way, this android fighting is where everything went downhill.” 

“Understood. Do you have any idea who else might be involved in these fights? Or where they may be taking place?”

“I never went to see the fights or nothin’, so I wouldn’t really know where.”

“Understood. Well we appreciate your time. If anything else comes to mind,” he extended a business card toward her, ”please don’t hesitate to give me a call.” 

The woman acknowledged with a stiff nod toward Stern, shooting Gavin a look before she leaned against her door, signaling them to leave.

Back in the car, Stern drove in silence for several minutes. He ran the side of his index finger along his lips in thought, thumb hooking beneath his chin as his elbow rested on the window ledge. He sniffled, and spoke up, facing Gavin at a red light. “This android fighting situation, what are your thoughts on that?” 

Gavin shrugged, replying factually, “As long as the fights are carried out under a gambling license, there’s nothing illegal about them.”

“That’s not what I mean though. Does the idea of androids fighting bother you?”

“Why would it? Does human boxing bother you?”

Stern frowned. “Human boxers choose to fight. I’d suspect androids don’t have a choice in the matter.” The light turned green, and the human returned his focus on the road. “Does the idea of that not bother you?”

Gavin chose his words carefully. “Androids are made to fill the needs of humans. We don’t feel pain and we don’t have emotions. So I don’t see why there would be a reason to oppose it,” he shrugged. 

The detective cut his eyes over to Gavin a few times as he drove. “Hmm,” was all he voiced. It made the android uncomfortable that he couldn’t tell whether Stern was convinced or not. 

Why did Stern even care? Gavin was just a tool. Who asks a hammer what they think about their job? Why did this guy keep asking irrelevant shit and… Gavin’s eyes fell to the floorboard of the car… why did he wish he could just tell this human the truth? He sent a small zap of static charge to his core, correcting himself for such a thought — they’d throw him in a grinder for saying shit like that. 

The following day Stern was off duty, so Gavin focused on filing some permits and clearing backlogged reports. He glanced up to see Hank and Connor strolling into the office late. Humans’ hearing sucked, so Hank always had to speak loudly and Gavin couldn’t help but overhear some of their conversation on the quiet Tuesday morning. They were discussing the previous evening’s events, just mundane things, but Gavin realized Hank had  _ joined _ the Stern twins for their dinner and drinks. His face gathered into a scowl without him even realizing it as he turned his audio input down. 

He almost jumped when Hank appeared at his side, taking a seat on the edge of his desk. “I know you were listening in on that.” Gavin’s mood soured further. “You know, they’re not as bad as you think.”

“Who?”

“Humans.”

Gavin scoffed. “They’re exactly as bad as I know they are.”

“I know he can be a little uptight,” Hank nodded toward Stern’s desk, “I’ve heard plenty of stories from Connor. I’ve not seen him treat you  _ badly  _ though? Why all the hatred?”

“I have my reasons, and I don’t need to tell them to you.”

“Well excuse me for caring,” Hank said with a huff, walking away. 

It  _ wasn’t _ Hank’s business, but in fairness, Gavin knew his attitude didn’t really have anything to do with Stern.

He scowled most of the day, unbothered with keeping his expression in check, and his mood was still sore the following day. He wasn’t at his desk when Detective Stern arrived, but as soon as he took his own seat, the human looked him over. “What’s wrong?” he asked, a note of concern in his voice.

“Nothing, why?”

“You look upset. Did something happen?”

“Nothing to report, sir.”

“That’s not…” The human’s words fell along with his shoulders, and he sighed, continuing to stare. Gavin’s software provided that the man’s expression could be disappointment, concern or frustration, and the options confused him. Shouldn’t a lack of reportable incidents be a good thing? Stern returned to his work, but little hints in his speech and demeanor continued to betray a deeper unhappiness. 

They got a lead. Connor’s informant happened to mention android fighting in an unrelated report, and the facts lined up. Stern’s mood improved as soon as he heard the news, excitedly striding up to their adjoined desks and plopping into his seat. “This could finally get us somewhere on this case,” he nodded hopefully, “I’m thinking we should just stake it out tonight, see what we see. You ok with that?”

“You know that’s like asking your toaster if it’s ok with you putting bread in it, right?” 

Stern just stared at him, expressionless. Like his processor was running slow. “I’m not much of a toast guy,” he deadpanned, “but if a toaster could hold a conversation, I’d definitely be asking its permission before sticking  _ anything _ in it.”

Gavin blinked for a moment before he barked a loud and genuine laugh. Just as quickly, his hands flew to his mouth, covering it and halting the action immediately. 

Puzzled, Stern’s short-lived smile faded. Tilting his head, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I…” Gavin began, still putting it together himself. “I’ve never laughed before,” he admitted after a moment. “It surprised me.”

Disbelievingly, “You’ve  _ never _ laughed?”

“No, sir.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “Not… not like that.”

A warm smile overtook the detective’s face. “Well, I’m glad to have given you your first laugh then,” he said with a softness that was also a first for Gavin to see — on Stern’s face or any other. It persisted while Gavin let his own sheepish smile return. “So,” the detective resumed the previous conversation, “Are we staking this place out?”

“Sure,” Gavin nodded. 

Humans shuffled in and out of the repurposed old strip mall all evening. Some lingered near the entrance, smoking or making phone calls. They didn’t have a warrant or justification for anything more than observation, so they sat back in one of the DPD’s undercover vehicles and just watched the establishment. 

“We’re too far for me to hear anything,” Gavin frowned, “Even with my sensors turned all the way up.”

“That’s ok.” Stern intently studied the people coming in and out while taking some photos. “Connor told me about this thing Hank can do...” he paused to fidget with the camera settings, taking another photo.

Gavin smirked with the badly timed silence, wondering how Stern would take a joke about ‘the things’ Hank and his brother were doing. He decided against testing the waters. 

Stern resumed, “He said Hank can read lips, gather a good amount of conversation even at a distance. Can you do that too?”

“Of course.”

“Awesome, ok, mind seeing if you can gather anything that way?”

Truth be told, Gavin was thrilled to be able to show off his skills. “I’ll speak out loud what I’m seeing and record it as well,” he nodded in agreement. 

Several minutes passed of Gavin relaying what he was watching from every person who’s face he could see. The android frowned when there was a lull in people outside. “None of these people have given us anything useful.”

“Not yet,” Stern agreed, “Sometimes the useful bit comes out of nowhere though.” The detective followed shortly with, “You’re able to interpret these conversations so much faster and more detailed than I could hope to get alone. This is perfect, thank you.” A pride swelled in Gavin’s chest. 

Just then, a drop of rain splattered against the windshield and Stern studied the sky for a moment. “Looks like we might be short lived tonight though.” They frowned in unison as several more droplets tapped against the glass.

Another human emerged from the building, talking on his phone. Gavin relayed the words as the stranger spoke them. “ _ Hey, I can hear you better out here, sorry. Yeah Carly said she’d pick her up from the vet soon _ .” There was a pause, presumably while whoever was on the other end of the phone was speaking. “ _ Fucking dog is costing me a fortune, I hope I get a solid win tonight, I have high hopes for one or tw— _ ” The man turned and his face couldn’t be seen for Gavin to read. “Still nothing useful,” he sighed. 

Stern shrugged apathetically. “Hope his dog is ok,” he huffed a dry laugh. 

“You humans and your dogs,” Gavin teased, shaking his head. 

“Don’t look at  _ me _ ,” Stern side-eyed him, “I’m more of a cat guy.”

“Cats seem cool.”

“Seem? What, have you never met a cat before?”

“Nope,” Gavin replied honestly.

Disbelief was evident in his partner’s voice. “ _ Seriously _ ?”

“You see a lot of cats hanging out in the bullpen, Stern?” 

The detective stared blankly at Gavin, then at the building — increasingly obscured by the falling rain — then back at Gavin. “You know, I’ve been thinking anyway...” he trailed off as he started the car. Gavin turned to face him while he finished his thought. “Have you ever done  _ anything _ that wasn’t work related? Gone anywhere but the DPD?”

The android raised a brow. Had this human lost his mind? He knew those things could happen for any number of medical reasons. “Of course not. What on earth would I do?”

The detective drove off without using the car’s navigation. Anxiety felt like knots in Gavin’s wires, not knowing where he was being taken. He could trust Stern though, right? The human hadn’t done anything to hurt him yet. They pulled up to an apartment complex after a short drive. The large sign out front displayed ‘Zen Garden Vistas.’ “Is this… where are we?”

“It’s where I live.” Stern killed the ignition, nodding toward the building as he exited the car. “Come on,” he bid.

Swiping an electronic key at unit #900, he held the door open, inviting Gavin into the dwelling. It was spacious, but not uncomfortably so, still welcoming. It was tidy and spotless as Gavin had come to assume his partner’s home would be, and decorated crisply in white and black. 

He jumped slightly when what he’d thought was a throw pillow on the couch, turned out to be a large black and white cat. It stretched with a yawn and a perky chuffing sound as it walked toward them. “This is Sushi,” Stern introduced. Gavin sat gently onto the couch beside the small animal, holding out his hand for her to investigate. Tiny, damp pokes from her pink nose registered against his sensors as she sniffed his hand curiously. He laughed with surprise when, upon completion of her cat scan, she pushed her head flatly into his hand. “She likes you,” Stern concluded with a smile. 

“I like you too, Sushi.” He admitted, running his thumb across her head. “How’d she get her name?”

“I found her behind a sushi restaurant.” Stern replied, sounding like he knew the lack of creativity would be judged.

“Deep,” Gavin ribbed him with a smirk. The cat pushed more firmly into his hand, demanding more action from it. He’d seen videos of cats before, he’d watched thousands of them in his own HUD. He let her little face shove his palm up, and ran his hand down the length of her coat as she came closer. Gavin had texture references programmed into his files, but actually feeling the fur with his own hands, the way the soft fibers moved against his skin, the warmth and the small vibrations that greeted him as she began to purr… it was so much more magical than he would ever have imagined. He rubbed behind her ears and scratched at the back of her neck where she seemed to like it the most. 

Placing her paws on his chest, she stretched up to rub her cheek across his face. He grinned in full, a laugh escaping as he buried his nose in the soft, warm fur. When he glanced up, he caught the goofy, drunken smile on Stern’s face before the human quickly straightened himself up. “Welcome to being a cat lover,” the man laughed. 

Perhaps it was the comfort of the cat, the kindness the detective had been showing him, his own thoughts playing with his mind. Right at that moment though, Gavin wanted so badly to tell Stern everything. What he’d been through. The truth — and that he remembered all of it with crystal clarity. “Hey,” he began, getting Stern’s patient attention. 

Doubt gripped him. What if he was wrong? He couldn’t do it. “Thank you, for this,” he voiced instead. 

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im SO EXCITED to finally be posting the chapter that contains my amazing RBB partners artwork! Thank you so much for your ideas and talent,  
> [Pippuripop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippuripop%E2%80%9D%20rel=)

Niles prided himself on being introspective. And he was well aware of how conflicted he was becoming about the android. Having to drive Gavin back to the station that night he’d taken him to meet Sushi had just felt wrong—like he was returning a rented tool. 

He knew he looked forward to seeing him in the mornings and he’d be lying to claim it was only the caseload keeping him late some evenings. 

The case _was_ a struggle though, in fairness. The people leading these android fighting rings were smart. Gambling licenses were always in place, they always had the proper permitting and all legality boxes checked to keep the law out of their operations. At face value, they were fully on the up-and-up. Niles had questioned a few people who ran the operations or owned androids in the fights over the last few days, and their oily smiles and smug greetings gave him chills.

Worse, they’d all look Gavin over in surprise and condescending glares. He hated it for his partner, having to be gawked at and spoken to like he was. Despite the rude attitudes, Gavin was always impressively collected. He never attempted to stretch the law and though Niles hadn’t given him an ‘order’ in weeks, the android followed his lead and maintained a commendable professionalism. More than once though, Niles simply could not force himself to deny the emotion behind the GV’s eyes. 

Was he losing his mind? How could a machine care about being objectified? The more time he spent with Gavin, the less _machine_ he saw. It baffled Niles and left him staring at the ceiling fan in his bedroom unable to sleep some nights. He needed to talk to Connor about this, but the timing just kept not aligning for it to be a private conversation. 

Niles surprised even himself when a particularly sleazy android fighter wouldn’t stop looking Gavin over like a dropped wallet. The man reached out to touch his partner’s chin with the audacity to ask, “Would you sell him?” Niles yanked the man’s wrist before it could reach Gavin, twisting his arm behind him and shoving him against a wall. He’d hurled a list of legal threats at the guy, knowing none would stick in court, but it had successfully shut him up. 

The look on Gavin’s face had been priceless, and worth every ounce of the risk. 

The more they dug around the fighting industry, the more shit they unearthed. To the surprise of no one, some notorious Red Ice dealers held close ties with the fights. 

Fowler pulled Connor and Hank off of a couple of their cases, assigning them to help Niles and Gavin, broadening the team. 

Niles invited GV to join him on a short walk after his meeting with the captain and his brother, breaking the news to him.

“This is supposed to be _our_ case,” Gavin objected. “You and I have this, we don’t need the help.”

Niles wasn’t any happier about it than the android was. “Yeah, I know. Trust me.” He walked with his hands in his pockets, eyes wandering around the landscape to look at nothing in particular. “Fowler seems to think it’ll blow up into a bigger case quickly though, and wants group effort on it.”

Gavin continued to grumble under his breath. 

“It’s not like we’re being taken off the case,” Niles reassured, “it’s still ours to run. Connor and Hank are just going to help with the bitch work.” He was surprised at how annoyed Gavin was about the news, but he commiserated — being assigned ‘additional help’ before you needed it felt an awful lot like being told you couldn’t handle something… before you’d even been given the opportunity to try. “It’ll be fine. We’re still running this show,” he smiled. 

Gavin remained unenthused. 

A week later, the team of four had the groundwork sailing along. 

Three badly damaged androids were discovered in a Red Ice bust, locked in a shipping container in the backyard of a well established drug maker. A crude operating table of sorts stood in the center of the space, new android parts filled shelves or lay scattered about the area. A large trash can overflowed with crumpled, damaged parts. Partitioned off with a wall of sturdy bars, the rear quarter of the container had been fashioned into a cage that took the DPD an hour to cut their way into.

Two androids were operational, huddled in the far corner while the department broke into where they were imprisoned. Gavin interfaced with the two, gathering all of the video and audio feed from their memory banks. 

A third android lay on his side, lifeless and shut down, fingers still grasping his own thirium pump. “What happened to him?” Niles asked softly when Gavin completed his questioning of the other two. 

He frowned, watching as Hank forced the others into stasis. “They said he couldn’t take the stress of having to fight again, removed the pump himself.” 

Giving the scene the reverence it deserved, Niles stood quietly beside his partner for a moment. “Who would’ve thought a being without emotion would choose suicide over task.” It was a baited statement, he knew it was. 

Gavin looked at him, unsure of how to respond. For someone who supposedly lacked the capacity for either, he sure looked tired and stressed. Niles spared his partner any confusion about what he meant and gently squeezing the android’s shoulder, whispering, “I’m sorry you’re having to do all of this,” before turning to walk away. 

The bust and its ties to the fighting rings granted the team court-approved access to the camera footage from all of the fights. 

“Just the recent shit?” Gavin questioned when Niles told him about the footage Connor and Hank were on their way to serve the warrant for.

“I’m not sure, Hank volunteered to take charge of that,” he answered. “We’ll have our hands full with this shit,” he stated, plopping a box of paper records they’d retrieved from Barnes’ house onto his desk. Ledgers and appointment books, receipts and bills. It would be an undertaking. 

“I was thinking,” Niles said over the steam of his coffee cup the following morning, “I have tomorrow off, which means you shouldn’t have much pressing you either. Connor, Hank and I have lunch plans tomorrow. I know you can’t eat,” he acknowledged, rolling his eyes in preparation for the android’s objection, “but would you care to join us? Just to get out of the office for a while?”

It looked like it took Gavin a minute to compute, but with a cautious smile, “Sure, I’d love to,” he accepted.

“I can pick you up on the way…?” 

“Nah, I’m not a kid. I think I can manage a taxi.”

“That works, I'll send you the address. We’re meeting there at 12:30 to let the lunch rush die down a bit.”

Gavin was in the best mood Stern had ever seen all day. He even held a relatively civil conversation with Hank, especially considering the subject was about whether cats or dogs were the better animal. He wasn’t sure the mood could be attributed to the lunch plans, but seeing a smile on the android’s face had him again questioning all of his preconceived notions. This was quickly becoming the normal, and he had to be insane. It was crazy to be thinking this way, right? 

It became a later than expected evening, Connor and Hank having left hours ago. He lingered at his desk, enjoying that occasionally, the GV would glance up from his work and then try to hide his smile when their eyes met. 

Niles eventually submitted to the legitimate need to head home. Sighing, “Well, Sushi is probably getting hungry.”

“Tell her ‘Hi’ from me,” Gavin returned a smile, slightly saddened at the edges. 

Niles looked around the quiet bullpen as he collected his things. “I hope it doesn’t get too boring for you here overnight…”

“Nah, it’s fine. I can play Tetris in my head for hours,” he laughed. 

Niles shook his head. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch! I’ll shoot you a text when I’m headed that way.”

“Looking forward to it,” Gavin replied. 

Niles was confident he meant it, too.

  
  
  


“ _Hey, just leaving my place_ ,” he texted at 12:02pm. “ _You find a taxi?”_

There wasn’t a response. Weird, especially since it wasn’t like an android could set a phone down. Their communication was all in their head.

At 12:40, he texted again. “ _We're here, sitting at the back. Just keep to the right and you’ll find us_.”

1:06, “ _Hey, everything ok_?”

His foot kept tapping, and Connor could tell something was up. “That’s a lot of anxiety over someone you wanted to be rid of just a few weeks ago,” he teased. 

Niles frowned, torn between wanting to snap at his brother, wanting to lay all of his feelings and confusion on the table... and _not_ wanting to be dragged off to the mental hospital for falling in love with an android. Because let’s face it, that’s where he was headed, right? He huffed, forcing logic and normalcy to take the lead. “I just want to make sure nothing came up with the case, that’s all.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Connor laughed, taking another bite of his lunch. 

Hank intervened, “I’m sure everything is fine. With Gavin and the case. He might’ve been called to assist on another scene or something, that’s happened to me on Connor’s days off. Don’t sweat it.”

“You’re right,” Niles agreed, shooting a look at Connor to be sure it was obvious he was referring to Hank, not his brother. “I’m sure it’s something like that.”

They wrapped up their lunch just a bit after 1:30. He sent another text to Gavin, “ _Missed you at lunch, hope all is well. Don’t let them keep you too busy around there, you need a day off too :)_ ” He battled himself about going to the DPD, just to check on things in person. He could see the look Gavin would give him though, some version of ‘WTF is wrong with you?’. Plus, how desperate would he look that a missed lunch would send him into panic? Nope, he concluded, he needed to go run some errands, do his thing and let Gavin do his. 

Sushi greeted him at the door, excited that the armload of groceries could only mean treats for her too. She was right, as always. Niles did the mundane chores of a day off — laundry, dusting, sweeping, etc. It nagged at him that Gavin had not returned any of his texts, but he sucked it up and refrained from texting again. 

He let a complicated dinner recipe distract him, and cuddled up on the couch with Sushi after doing the dishes. A lame movie killed a couple of hours. His mind was tired, but he couldn’t drag himself to bed. He made some chamomile tea to soothe himself and the heat wafted into his nose from his favorite mug.

Knocking from the door startled Niles into spilling some of the drink. “Ssshhit,” he whispered, flinging the hot liquid from his hand. It was just after 1am, and he was expecting no one at this hour. Suspicious, he set the drink down silently, swiped the handgun he kept hidden in the living room before tiptoeing to the door’s peephole.

Connor and Hank stood outside the apartment. Strange for them to visit unannounced. 

“Hey guys,” he greeted, welcoming but concerned, “Everything ok?”

“Uhh…” Connor eyed the handgun still in Niles’ hand. “Should I ask you the same?”

“Shit, sorry,” he laughed, returning the gun to its secure place. “You never can be too careful. Come in, make yourselves at home.” Connor removed his coat, and it took no time for Niles to know his brother was troubled by something. “So what’s up? What’s wrong?”

“Sorry for the late hour,” Connor apologized, setting his coat across a kitchen chair. ”I felt this was better done in person though, and not at work.”

“Well that's not ominous at all,” Niles delivered dryly. Connor’s face was still tight, stressed. Not a good sign. 

“There’s something you need to see.”

“It’s about Gavin,” Hank spoke up for the first time.

Niles’ heart dropped immediately. Connor had teased him at lunch, but his brother wasn’t stupid. They hadn’t had the talk Niles had been needing, about his feelings and thoughts but he’d be an idiot to think Connor wouldn’t have noticed the little things transpiring between he and Gavin. To know that Niles was growing closer and closer to his partner. “What’s going on?” His concern edged on a demand. 

Connor took a seat on the couch, unfolding his tablet and motioning for Niles to join him. “We’ve been reviewing these videos, the ones from the fighting rings. And…” his words fell off as he turned the screen to face Niles.

Blue blood coated the faces of the men in the video, and the figures were a whirl of action. People shouted from every direction in excitement and a haze of cigar smoke filled the air. But the image was clear, and a furious snarl curled across the face of an android Niles would have recognized anywhere. Gavin. In a makeshift boxing ring of sorts, skin glitching from the damage and blood soaking through his thin shirt wherever the chassis beneath was broken. 

Hank tapped the tablet, his interface command pulling up the next video, and the next, and the next. Niles’ gut wretched with each video, each image of the man he was still coming to terms with his feelings for, drove a spike into his heart. He sat in disbelieving silence, unable to look away. 

The androids wore collars of some type that appeared to serve as a means of control. When one of the opponents went down for their final time, the LED of the victor spun red shortly after, and they also hit the ground, powered down. 

It was no surprise that the GV was tough. He’d displayed impressive strength and agility in the field more than once, and it looked as though Gavin was the victor in most of these fights, though the desperation on his face was no lesser for the frequent advantage in his position. 

Niles’ body felt numb. Connor touched his shoulder gently, and the sensation of it barely registered. “Are you ok?” His brother asked, brows knitted with concern. 

Niles shook his head ‘no,’ unable to form actual words. When Connor moved to pull the tablet away, Niles reached out and clung to it, unwilling to turn his head from the image of Gavin furiously ignoring what must have been a thousand damage warnings to use a piece of his own detached arm to concave the head of this opponent.

A little light on Gavin’s collar blipped, his LED spun red once before darkening to a flat grey. He crumpled into a heap atop the other android. The video ended in an eruption of cheers from the humans surrounding the ring. Niles gripped the tablet hard enough that plastic creaked. 

“I think that’s enough,” Connor spoke softly, attempting again to remove the tablet.

“Next,” Niles growled.

“This is all in the past, Niles, there’s no reason to torture yourself with it. We just wanted you to see for yourself.”

He glared at his brother, a rare but unyielding fury behind his own eyes. “Show me the next video,” he hissed in a threatening whisper through his gritted teeth.

Hank acquiesced with a heavy sigh, pressing his finger to the tablet once again. There was only one video left, and Niles would forever wish beyond words that he hadn’t insisted on watching it. 

This one was different from the others. Gavin’s opponent had been crudely outfitted with additional plating. Reinforced. It was a grotesque and shoddy job, but effective. Gavin was struggling to gain an upper hand, and the damage to his chassis was worsening with each blow given or received. At one point, he turned, pleading for an ounce of compassion from the humans near him. He stammered that ‘he’d had enough,’ that ‘there was nothing he could do.’ When no mercy came, he attempted to retreat. A hand grabbed him by the collar, flinging him cruelly back into the ring. 

It wasn’t until that very moment that Niles realized the man who’d been controlling Gavin, shutting him down… the one who’d grabbed the collar with a sneer of callous greed on his face, was none other than Antonio Barnes — the very person who’s murder they were investing. 

Pausing the video, he stared silently at the screen; the image of Barnes’ cruelty and Gavin’s helplessness burning into his mind. He looked closely, twice, before he confirmed that he also recognized the person immediate to Barnes’ left. Carl Jameson — The same man Gavin had punched in the alley and threatened in the interrogation room. His eyes dotted back and forth across each man, what must’ve been a hundred times, before he could re-start the video. 

A punch from the reinforced android landed squarely to the center of the GV’s face. The chassis gave way with a crunch of ripping plastic and metal, cracking a familiar path across the bridge of Gavin’s nose with the hard blow. 

The downside of someone being as tough as nails is that when the hammer drops, it can come again and again without remorse. Gavin tried with everything he had to defend himself, but the damage rained down upon him with unyielding brutality. He tried to dodge a punch, and a hard right hook caught the collar around his neck, breaking the device. A glimmer of hope crossed his face and he bolted toward Barnes, who shoved him away, sending him half sprawling toward Jameson. 

In desperation, Gavin grabbed the human and began attempting to fight his way past him. He swung on Jameson, catching and probably breaking the man’s jaw before delivering another punch to his ribs, doubling the human over. 

His re-directed aggression was short lived however, and the opposing android quickly dragged Gavin back into the center of the ring, resuming his attack. A hard kick to his sternum while he was on the ground sent convulsions glitching through Gavin’s body. It was over soon thereafter, with Gavin in a heap of bent metal and blue blood. Barnes spit venom from the sidelines, unconcerned with his injured human friend, angered at having lost the fight. 

Niles placed the tablet on the couch. Gently, so he wouldn’t startle Sushi. Standing quickly and without a word, he retreated to his hall bathroom and spent the next 15 minutes hunched over the toilet… the following 10, cleaning himself back up.

“We’re going to the station, now,” he ordered when he stepped back into the living room. Neither of the other men objected, Connor knowing better than to cross Niles when he was truly upset. 

It was nearly 3am when they arrived at the precinct. Niles stormed in the door, causing the straggling night-shifters to jump, glaring at the sudden intrusion. He needed to see his partner. Needed to hug him and tell him he was sorry for all of the horrible things humanity had done to him. 

But… Gavin was nowhere to be seen. His desk was empty. 

“Stasis pod,” Hank reminded him when he spun in place, searching for the GV. Fuck, right. He practically sprinted down the hall.

“He’s not here either,” Niles groaned to Connor as he caught up. A night shift patrol cop was making her way up the hallway and he yelled out, “Hey, you! Have you seen the GV android that’s normally in this pod?”

“Haven’t seen him all night,” she shook her head. 

He was beginning to panic, and Connor grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him. “Niles, calm down. I’m sure he’s fine, get ahold of yourself.” Instinct, heavy dread wretched at Niles’ conscience.

“Hey… guys?” Hank called out toward them from the bullpen.

Niles raced in his direction. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Gavin walking through the front door. 

He looked… fine. Great, even? His uniform was clean and pressed and the stress that had etched his face for the last couple weeks was gone. Niles wanted to run to him, grab him into a hug. A CyberLife technician walked beside him though, indifferent to the android but clearly together on official terms. Gavin and the technician looked up, acknowledging Niles, Connor and Hank with empty, polite smiles. 

“Detective Stern,” Gavin greeted, extending his hand for a handshake like they were meeting for the first time. “It’s a pleasure to be back. Would you like for me to continue using the previously registered name, Gavin?”

“Gavin,” Niles ignored the technician completely, “What the hell is going on? Is everything ok? I’ve been trying to reach you all day—”

The technician spoke up, “Ah, yeah, sorry about that. Communications are turned off while they’re being serviced.” 

“ _Serviced_?” Niles demanded, baffled. “What the hell did you do to him?”

“Umm,” the technician looked exactly as nervous as he should, “Yes, sir... we had a service request filed a couple months ago..” the man pulled a paper from his clipboard. “Looks like the unit was experiencing some failure to obey commands. Request was filed by a, uh—” he read over the form, “Detective Niles Stern?”

Niles snatched the paper out of the man’s hands, making him jump. “I’ve never filed any such—” Fowler’s easily recognized signature adorned the line at the bottom, signed on his behalf.

The meeting the day of the Jameson arrest. 

His insistence that Gavin was _defective_ for punching Jameson. 

Niles sank down to sit on the top of his desk while the technician nervously finished giving his report. “It looks like they addressed any bugs and reset him. Sorry it took so long, we’ve been backed up for a few weeks. Should be good to go now, though.”

His blue eyes struggled to break away from the paper. He forced them to meet Gavin’s grey’s for their familiarity. Anger, pain, anything would’ve been perfectly fair. None was there though, no emotion at all. It gutted Niles to imagine how crushed Gavin must be behind the professional, programmed facade. “Wait,” he realized what had been said, facing the technician. “ _Reset?_ ”

“Yes, sir. It’s the only way to guarantee any glitches or errors in the programming are erased.”

“So you’re telling me, all of his memories are just… gone?”

“Don’t worry,” he attempted to reassure, “it’ll take him no time to catch up. Casework and such is a quick download.” The technician smiled, clueless to the events around him. “Well if I can just get you to sign here, I’ll be on my way!” He extended a tablet with generic CyberLife verbiage that the repaired or replaced unit had been received. 

Niles couldn’t move. Couldn’t lift his arms. Connor stepped up, signing the blank box for him. 

“Thanks!” the technician gave a nervous nod to the men and departed.

Niles sprung to his feet as soon as the tech was out the door, yanking Gavin by the shoulder into a nearby meeting room and situating the android directly in front of him. “Please, no… come on Gavin. You’ve got to still be in there. Surely?”

Gavin blinked several times, alarmed. “I apologize for my absence detective, but I’m fully operational now, and ready to be of service as soon as I download the case files.”

Niles took his hand. “No, no come on. Talk to me, please. Be hurt or furious or anything at all, I don’t care. Just tell me you’re still in there somehow?”

The android tilted his head. “I’m happy to speak with you, detective, all of my systems are online.”

“But you don’t remember anything?”

Mechanically absent of any personality, “The technician is correct, it won’t take me long at all to catch up to where my unit previously left off with our cases.” 

“This can’t be happening,” Niles whispered to himself, searching Gavin’s eyes for any sign of depth or emotion. Connor and Hank stayed quiet while he processed what was going on. “This is like he’s gone, right?” He asked toward Hank. “Like he’s a whole different person?”

Hank hesitated to answer, exchanging a pained look with Connor. 

The GV simply observed them, unfazed by Niles’ falling apart. Which, if he had to admit, was worse than even he would’ve expected. Tears of frustration were prickling his eyes and his composure was dangling by a thread. Some of the early morning crew were making their way into the bullpen, and the added background noise was grating on his thinned nerves. The stress was building and if it had been anyone but Connor who touched his shoulder just then, they’d have been decked. 

“Come on,” Connor suggested, “let’s all go back to your place. See if there’s anything we can do.”

Niles began to object, but couldn’t. Part of him wondered if they could get in trouble for taking “department property” home without permission, but the whole concept of the label made him feel all the more sick to his stomach. Still oblivious, Gavin— no, the GV that had been wiped of everything _Gavin,_ offered, “Should I review our files to catch up while you’re gone, sir?”

“No,” Hank interjected on his own. “You’re coming with us too.” 

The robot seemed a little surprised, but ready to comply with whatever he was told to do. _Compliant_ — Niles dwelled on the word in his own head — because he was blank of any willpower to be anything else. And it was all Niles’ fault. 

Thirty minutes later, Niles sat on his couch, rubbing his temples while Connor filled a glass of water for him. He’d had a headache since watching the videos of Gavin fighting earlier, but hadn’t taken the time to actually retrieve a Tylenol until now. The pill went down easy, though he wished it could be something much _much_ stronger. 

“Ok so help me out here,” Connor began once they were settled. “I’ve seen you getting close to Gavin but I have to admit, I’m surprised to see you _this_ upset.”

Niles sighed. “Trust me, no one is more surprised than I am. I kept meaning to talk to you, tell you what’s going on in my mind and my… heart. I just keep missing the opportunities. And I wasn’t in a rush,” he reflected honestly, “It’s taken me awhile to put it all together for myself too.” 

Connor’s mouth stayed in that half-frown he made when he wasn’t sure how to respond.

Sushi sauntered into the living room, announcing her arrival with happy cat chirps. Niles groaned audibly when she recognized the GV and began rubbing against his pant leg, purring loudly and hopeful for affection. His heart dropped impossibly further when the android didn’t even glance down at her efforts. He just stood there at attention, waiting for orders or whatever. Tears welled in Niles’ eyes and he blinked them away before anyone else could see them. “Is there any way to undo this?” He turned to plead with Hank, “Surely there’s a way to restore everything?”

“I’m sorry Niles but no, a factory reset isn’t something that can be reversed. Essentially, it _is_ a reversal of everything. Unless everything has been backed up elsewhere, it’s… wiped.”

“If I take him straight back to CyberLife and demand for them to help me, is there a chance they would’ve backed him up there first? Maybe they don’t clear everything right away?”

“Doubtful,” Hank replied.

Gritting his teeth while the anger bubbled up, “That’s so… _wrong_!” Niles growled. “How can they just do that? Wipe him away like… like…”

“A machine?” Connor asked with an expression somewhere between kindness and confusion.

The look made Niles all the more angry. “Goddamnit, Connor,” he hissed, “You don't…” he groaned, head in his hands. “You don’t understand.” 

“I think that I do.” Connor stepped next to Hank, interlaced their fingers and gave the android’s hand a squeeze. “I was actually the one thinking it was you who didn’t understand.” He smiled sheepishly at Hank, who, despite looking nervous about his partner’s declaration, returned a warm, loving smile. 

It had been such a long night, and filled with so much stress. Niles’ brain took a moment to understand what he was even seeing.

Oh. 

He just breathed silently, eyes stuck on Connor and Hank’s adjoined hands. “Is this… is this the reason you’ve been so guarded about him? For so long?”

Connor blushed. “I didn’t know how you’d take it,” he admitted. “And I couldn’t risk anything happening to him.” 

Connor was his twin brother, how could he have missed this? He wanted to argue that he would’ve understood, but… would he have? Before Gavin? He smiled instead of getting defensive, and it was genuine and warm despite his heartache. “I can’t believe I didn’t catch on to this. I understand though, now .. more than ever. Connor I’m so happy for you.” 

“Yeah… we’re… very happy.” His brother gave a sad smile, “I’m just very sorry we couldn’t have talked about this sooner. I can’t even imagine this happening to Hank.” Connor looked back and forth from Niles to Gavin, “I’m so sorry.”

“They’ve done this before,” Niles recalled, “wiped his memory. And it was wrong then. The fighting and abuse he’s been through. He already didn’t remember any of it.” Niles didn’t miss that Gavin tilted his head just then, yellow LED flecked with dips into red as he listened to what was being said. 

“He still has the same personality matrix,” Hank reassured, “There’s a strong chance with time that he’ll still essentially be the same person.” 

“That’s not good enough.” Niles shook his head, walking up to the GV. His LED its normal yellow spin, body rigid, watching. “I mean, I’ll take what I can get, I’m not abandoning him or sending him back or whatever — ever. But what I saw wasn’t programmed. It was emotion and willpower. What if it was a fluke, and it never comes back? Plus it doesn’t change the fact that it’s wrong of them to do this to him in the first place.” He took the GV’s left hand in his, pulling it to kiss across the knuckles. The android’s LED dipped only briefly into red while Niles continued, “They’ve robbed him of so much. It’s just… _wrong_.” 

Breaking his silent streak, the GV admitted quietly. “I’m confused.” He paused, unsure. “The paperwork clearly stated that you filed a request for service, that my unit was malfunctioning. I’ve now been repaired. Is … this—” he gestured generically to himself, “..not what you wanted?”

Bile crept into Niles’ throat at the reminder that it was all his doing. “You weren’t broken, you were perfect.” He sighed. “I complained to Fowler months ago, back when I thought of you as just a machine. That day we arrested Jameson in the alley.”

“My unit was ignoring orders and employing excessive use of force, according to the paperwork.” 

Niles rolled his eyes, “Ok maybe ‘perfect’ is a stretch. If I’m being honest, I’ve spent half the time I’ve known you wanting to wring your neck. We’d worked all of that out though, and there was more to you. And I fell in love with all of it.”

The android’s LED flipped to red and stayed there this time. 

The GV stared at him for several breaths, unsure what to make of the confession. “I’m sorry, sir,” he answered slowly, “but I have no context or reference for your emotion. Your name and photo are in my system as my handler, and that’s the full extent of my knowledge of who you are.”


	4. Chapter 4

Stern’s remorse looked completely genuine, and Gavin almost felt guilty for lying. Almost. He’d even come very close to spilling the truth. But having the eyes, hands and computers of the CyberLife team all over and inside of him so recently was a sobering experience. If any of them knew what he’d done, what he was, it could be a one-way trip down into a grinder. 

At least his LED had returned to its normal yellow state. 

That morning he had been planning to meet the Stern twins and Hank for lunch, Gavin had been up ‘n at it early. He’d cross referenced some theft crimes of thirium and android parts with people they’d identified as android fighters, and had been super proud to present a few individuals who could be solid suspects for the thefts or potentially, Red Ice manufacturing. He’d kept reminding himself of how dumb it was to be  _ excited _ to go somewhere he couldn’t eat or drink, with three people he saw literally daily—and talk about work. He  _ was _ excited though. He was being included, he felt like a valued member of a team, and those were things he’d never experienced before. 

When the CyberLife tech had strolled into the building shortly before Gavin was supposed to leave, he hadn’t thought a thing of it, hadn’t batted an eye. 

When Fowler and the tech had approached him, he greeted them with friendly confidence, happy to assist with whatever they needed. Fowler had given a disappointed half frown, supplying to the tech, “He’s failed to follow orders on multiple occasions. His handler has been doing his best with him but expressed that the unit,” — he held his fingers up in air quotes — “‘Isn’t wired right’.” As the two humans discussed his “malfunctions” right in front of him, it felt like a rock was being jammed into Gavin’s thirium pump. 

The sensation of feeling your “heart drop” that humans referenced… he hadn’t thought it would be possible to experience as an android. He was wrong. This human he had finally begun to like a trust thought he was broken. He wasn’t obedient like a good little machine and he needed to be fixed. The news had crushed him.

He understood  _ now _ that the paperwork and complaints hadn’t been recent, and that Stern’s feelings toward him had since changed. He felt bad for the man and his clearly sincere grief. Also, he’d never experienced anything like he felt when Stern admitted to being in love with him. Gavin had also been feeling—something—all of those late nights in the precinct too, when he’d watch his internal clock and be thankful for the quiet surroundings and each minute that passed in each other’s company. ‘Sappy shit,’ he’d thought to himself more than once. Gavin’s system was made to interpret all of those little human actions and behaviors and what they meant but still, hearing Stern actually say out loud that he was in love had been… unexpected. 

As much as he did feel guilt and sympathy for Stern though, he was still hurt and mad as fuck. He’d been horrified of what the CyberLife agents would find in him and the experience had left him guarded, suspicious. So if watching the human crying and spilling his heart out was  _ just a bit _ satisfying at the end of the day, sue him.

Hank took him back to the precinct that night. The older android would look over at him every so often and just frown. No words were exchanged between them. 

As hard as it was to watch Stern cry over him, it was even worse when the human arrived to work the next morning. He hardly looked in Gavin’s direction, and wouldn’t make eye contact at all. 

Late in the morning, Connor approached the adjoined desks where Stern was actively avoiding Gavin’s existence. “I hate to bring it up,” Connor fidgeted hesitantly with his pen, “but we never did really get into discussions about those fighting tapes and what were going to do about them. We need to show them to Gavin, catch him up on our findings.” Stern gave a micro wince at hearing his name. 

Roughly running his hand up and down his face, Stern groaned under his breath, “Think you and Hank can manage that one?” His eyes flickered only momentarily toward Gavin. “I don’t think I can go through watching them again.”

Connor nodded. “Of course. I’ll fill you in on what we come up with.” 

“That’ll work,” Stern muttered. “Thanks.”

Turning to Gavin with a forced smile, Connor tipped his head toward one of the department’s meeting rooms. “Mind joining us, Gavin?”

“Of course, sir,” he rose mechanically, “lead the way.” Stern didn’t glance up as he stood, and Gavin couldn’t turn his head to confirm, but he felt the weight of the man’s eyes following him as he walked away. This was going to be harder than he thought. 

Hank interfaced the videos of all of the fights while they needlessly explained his own past to him. It was wasted time. He remembered it all with crystal clarity… whether he wanted to or not. He appreciated how sensitive they were about it though, compassionate despite how unbothered his roboliar act had to make him appear. 

“I’m sure you recognize your handler in the video as Antonio Barnes from our case files.” Connor was calm and gentle in his delivery. “We’re still looking for evidence, but we believe he owned you prior to his death.” 

“That would make sense,” Gavin confirmed dismissively. 

“A man you assisted in arresting a few weeks back, Carl Jameson, is the other human you interact with in the video. He insisted he'd only come by Barnes’ house that day to buy drugs and had no personal relationship with Barnes, but these videos prove that there’s more to the story than that.”

Hank joked with a smirk at Connor’s last sentence, “You mean to tell me that criminals  _ lie _ ?”

Rolling his eyes, Connor continued, “The bigger relevance of the videos is that this last fight we have on tape, it’s dated the same night that the medical examiner determined that Barnes died.”

Following what the human was inferring, Gavin asked, “So there’s a chance Jameson was there on the night of the murder?” 

“Possibly,” Connor shrugged. “It’s not enough for a warrant yet, but it’s a solid lead. If we can prove they were together the night of the murder, this could be big.”

It became the team’s primary focus. It took a couple days for things to really spin into motion, and during those days, Stern mostly moped around and ignored Gavin. The human spoke to him begrudgingly, no more than absolutely necessary, and exclusively about the case. 

“Can I get your coffee sir?” Gavin would ask. 

It was always declined. 

As soon as he’d arrive, “Do you need me to update your tablet with the latest on the case files?”

“No thanks, Connor emailed it all last night.”

It became harder and harder for Gavin to maintain his robotic front as the days passed. Yeah, there had been some satisfaction to everyone’s gloomy mood, but Stern looked  _ exhausted _ and the guilt was beginning to corrode him. 

Stern came in one morning and grabbed a lint roller to clear some cat hairs from his more crumpled than usual black jacket. Computing that it was a reasonable question, Gavin asked, “Did your cat sleep on your jacket last night, sir?” 

Pausing only briefly, without looking up, the human replied, “No, I fell asleep on the couch.”

“W—“ the question died on his lips. He knew why, and there was no reason to scrape at the wound. 

The following day, the club where that last fight had taken place forked over any and all surveillance video of the entire property from that day. Hank scanned it all in a blink, narrowing it down to what was relevant and sending the clip to Connor’s computer. All 4 men gathered round to watch what a parking lot camera had captured: Jameson and Barnes exiting a rear door shortly following the fight, Jameson pushing a cart on which Gavin laid—lifeless and crumpled. 

“Guess I’m glad I don’t remember that fight,” Gavin hoped the ironic joke/lie wouldn’t be taken poorly. 

A frown tugged one side of Stern’s mouth admitting, “That’s a silver lining, I guess.” 

Gavin had been hurt a lot, he was used to the digital rainfall of error codes and seeing the damage that went along with them. It was different though, watching this perspective of himself being treated like literal trash. The men heaved his chassis into Barnes’ shitty van and began to argue. There wasn’t audio from this camera, and the men never got physical with one another, but they gestured wildly, angrily.

“I’m not a betting man,” Connor said, “but I’m going to guess they lost a good bit of money on this fight.”

“Mm,” Stern hummed in agreement, tilting his head. “Probably lots of pointing blame and some unfulfilled promises. I wonder who fronted the cash?”

Someone else exited the building, attention drawn to Jameson and Barnes’ bickering while casually lighting a cigarette. Having an audience quieted the men quickly and they both entered the van. Shortly after, Barnes drove the van out of the lot with a still heated Jameson in the passenger seat. 

Stern's face had drifted closer to the monitor with each moment and by the time the clip ended, his nose was 4.61 inches from the screen and the rest of him was rigid with an elevated heart rate. Yanking himself upright, he exclaimed, “This could be it. If we can prove Jameson was at Barnes’ house the night of the murder, he’s a solid suspect.” 

“Let’s get on it!” Connor agreed. 

Like a snapped rubber band, the detective’s mood went from the self-loathing gloom it had been for days and became targeted, driven, ire. 

He routed the most likely streets Barnes would’ve taken from the club to his home and filed requests for traffic camera footage from multiple key points along the way. Sure enough, the footage showed Jameson in the vehicle the whole time.

Speaking softly across their desks later that afternoon, Stern said with a sigh, “So we already went around to some of Barnes’ neighbors, asked if they had video cameras that might have caught anything. Now that we know what we’re looking for, I was thinking of going back out there again, knocking on a few more doors. Want to come?”

It was the most words the human had spoken to him in days. “Of course, detective,” Gavin replied. 

They went from door to door to each house on the main street leading up to Barnes’ house. They hardly spoke, it was all business, driven by his partner’s determination to connect the dots. 

Two hours in, they caught just the break Stern had been hoping for. A neighbor a few houses down had a camera that covered just enough of Barnes’ driveway to see Jameson’s car parked on the road and the van arrive, occupied still by both men. They exited the van, dragged Gavin out of it, and 1.32 hours later, Jameson entered the view again, waking to his car alone and driving away. The image wasn’t clear, but it was enough to confirm that Jameson was there that night—and for more than long enough to have murdered Barnes. 

Securing his seat belt once they were back in Stern’s car, Gavin began to bounce his leg. He caught himself before Stern did and ceased this very non-robot stress sign. “Sir, can I—“

The phone rang, cutting him off. It was Connor, curious for an update and Stern quickly forgot about Gavin’s half-voiced thought as he excitedly relayed their findings to his brother while heading back to the station,

“We’ve got a cherry on top,” Connor’s voice came over the car’s speaker system, “The club got back to us with the amount Barnes wagered on that fight and his bank records show a large cash withdrawal that morning for the same amount. This gives us every reason to suspect that he would’ve been heated about wanting Jameson to split that loss with him.”

“I think we have enough for a warrant,” Hank agreed from somewhere in the background. 

Gavin sighed, trying to determine just how much he cared to intervene. 

Sure enough, the following morning came with a successful warrant for Carl Jameson. Stern wasted no time, gathering them all in a meeting room and discussing their plan. 

“Hard to say how much of a fight he’s going to put up,” Stern began, tapping a pen against his knuckle, “On one hand he might be cocky that he has nothing to fear and come in easy since he got off last time, on the other… he tried to stab me last time we attempted to arrest him.”

Hank asked, crossing his arms, “Think we’ll need SWAT?”

“Nah, doubt it,” Stern’s gaze wandered over them all. “I think the four of us can handle it.”

“How soon do we want to do this?” Connor asked.

“We stake it out tonight,” Stern answered decidedly. “Two unmarked cars, opposite sides of his house, communicate and act as soon as the opportunity arises.”

With everyone nodding in agreement, the plans were set. 

The shitty old car they’d signed out for the evening fit right in at Jameson’s apartment complex. It was one of the nastier places in town, and frequented by the beat cops for drug deals and domestic disturbances. Gavin and Stern parked at one side of the lot, Hank and Connor at the other. Both had reasonable views of Jameson’s apartment unit and the traffic coming in and out of the lot. He’d be easy to track. 

Sinking down into his seat while he stared out the windshield, Stern sighed. “At least the chairs in this thing are comfortable.” 

The only other time he and Gavin had been alone since the “reset”, Stern had been too focused and preoccupied to leave time or interest for conversation. This was different, their proximity unavoidable, and Gavin was nervous. He wasn’t good at hiding himself like this. He didn’t like it. 

Stern seemed… sad. And tired. Over an hour passed without them so much as acknowledging one another. 

They simply observed the space around them— people smoking on their patios, cars blaring loud music passing by, people talking or arguing amongst themselves— none of whom paid them any mind. The quiet hung heavily within the car for what felt like an eternity before the human spoke up at random, finally breaking the silence. “You know the last time..” Stern paused, “well I guess you wouldn’t know, other than whatever the file says. But the last time we went after this guy, he’d probably have gotten away if not for you.”

“I’m glad I was able to be of assistance,” Gavin replied, hating the taste of the clinical bullshit on his own tongue. 

Frowning, probably because of the same bullshit, Stern’s measured reply seemed hesitant to accept the lack of depth. “You were more than ‘assistance.’ You caught a dangerous man and helped solve a crime.”

Dryly, “Just doing my job.”

“I’m just…” Stern sighed, shaking his head. “I’m just trying to say thank you.”

He  _ tried _ to resist taking the jab. He failed. “I understand that was the arrest where I was malfunctioning though, correct?” 

Stern chuffed a laugh that dissipated into a quiet, “Ehhh……” he sniffled, watching a pickup truck leave the lot. “Yeah. You were a shit. Still, I should’ve let you hit him again though.” 

It wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting and any just-shy-of-suspicious whit died on Gavin’s tongue.

“And then the last time we were on a stakeout together,” Stern continued, “it ended with me introducing you to my cat,” he laughed once to himself.

“Sushi, right? I saw her in your apartment the other night.”

Stern’s head rolled to face him. He paused, looking the android over. “Hmm. Yeah. Y’all really hit it off the first time you met.”

The quiet returned quickly, closing back in on them and Stern sank deeper into the seat. His oxygen levels showed he’d be yawning any moment. Gavin could only guess how much sleep the man had lost over the past few days and he considered digging deeper into what he might say if pressured about his stress level, asked about what was keeping him up. Instead Gavin blurted, “Why’d you do that? Take me to meet your cat?”

Succumbing to the predicted yawn before answering, Stern’s eyes grew heavier by the minute. “You’d never met a cat. I have a cat. Seemed like the only option.”

**Incoming message: Origin: HK800-51:** Spotted Jameson’s car via the traffic camera at Lawndale and Homer, Southbound.

**Outgoing message: Destination: HK800-51:** Copy. Thanks. 

“He’s 2.72 miles away,” Gavin announced.

Sluggish with the lack of sleep and sudden change of topic, Stern’s brow furrowed. “Huh?”

“Sorry,” Gavin clarified, “Hank’s been watching all of the nearby traffic cameras and spotted Jameson’s car heading this direction.”

“Oh. Shit, ok.” He sat up straighter in his seat.

It was always interesting, watching a human go through their body’s preparatory actions. Stern blinked the sleep from his eyes, sniffling to clear his head and increasing his respirations. His oxygen levels rose, as did his adrenaline. Gavin had seen Stern a lot of things, but  _ nervous _ wasn’t on the list, until now. 

The plan was to let Jameson get halfway to his second story, exterior entrance apartment door, follow from a distance and then surround him before he had the chance to actually get into his apartment. 

As things often go, they were  _ not _ as planned. 

The timing before they exited their vehicles was perfect, the directions they approached from were perfect. Unfortunately however, the giant reflective window of the office unit, combined with a lowlife crook who was very used to watching his back, allowed Jameson to catch a glimpse of Stern the moment the suspect placed his foot into the stairwell toward the second floor. 

Jameson spun around, shifting to flee across the dirt mound that might have called itself a courtyard in some previous life. Connor appeared at one exit though, and Hank at the other. Stern called out calmly, “There’s no reason to make this an event, Jameson…” but the words fell on deaf ears and the man panicked like a wild rabbit watching a pack of coyotes approach. Instead of making a break for the parking lot, he booked straight up the stairs toward his apartment. 

**Incoming message: Origin: HK200-51:** Already requested back-up. 

“Shit,” Stern growled under his breath as all four of them sprang into action after the fleeing suspect. 

Jameson reached his apartment door, fumbling with his key as Hank and Connor reached the top of the steps from one side of the building and Stern and Gavin came from the other. Each of the human officers drew their guns as a warning and Connor spoke up this time, “Carl Jameson, you’re under arrest, no need to make this worse on yourself.”

“Fuck you,” Jameson spat at the collective of them, struggling with his panic to get his key situated into the lock. Stern slid forward on the walkway with the grace of a big cat approaching a dangerous but downed prey. As prey does when cornered though, a flurry of erratic motion allowed the man to finally turn the handle on his apartment door and dip half of himself inside for protection before drawing his own gun. 

He pointed it towards his closest threat: Stern.

White rage consumed Gavin. The memories and the video images of what Jameson had done to him were a daily reminder of how badly he hated this shitbag. Pointing a gun at his human? The only one who’s ever treated him right and made him feel like more than an object or a cash cow? He wanted to tear the fucker limb from limb. 

The panic in Connor’s face painted the full spectrum of fears as he began to squeeze his own trigger and realized given the angle, he’d be just as likely to shoot his brother as Jameson was. Gavin’s pre-construction analysis always felt like it slowed time, and he wasted not a single moment of it. He shoulder-checked Stern into the protective recess of another doorway—barely registering the human’s growl of disapproval—and lunged forward in a sprint. Hank did a similar maneuver, ensuring his larger, mechanical frame was between Connor and any bullets that might head his way. 

Jameson’s eyes widened at Gavin barreling toward him and he pulled the trigger. Stern made a sound from somewhere behind him. Gavin couldn’t turn to assess whether his human had been struck, and every fiber and byte of his being sang with dread as Jameson scrambled backward into his apartment, aiming the gun straight at Gavin. The android closed the final distance and launched himself at the suspect. 

Another shot rang out. Stern screamed a terrified “ _ Gavin _ !” just as Gavin collided with the man, sending them both toppling into the cluttered home. The gun slipped from Jameson’s grip, skittering across the ugly linoleum floor and disappearing under the sofa. Both men sprang to their feet, Jameson sprinting toward a bedroom with Gavin hot on his heels. 

The suspect grabbed the bedroom door as he passed it, slamming it in Gavin’s face a blink before it erupted into shards of flimsy wood as Gavin blew straight through it. He caught the shitbag like he had the first time he’d chased him: by the collar of his shirt—and spun him head-first into the bedroom wall. 

When the man collapsed to the floor with a loud, pained squawk, Gavin’s foot met his abdomen in a near-perfect reenactment of the last time Gavin had been in the fighting ring, earning a garbled “Ooooof'' of air as the breath was knocked from Jameson’s lungs. He straddled the downed man, one fist meeting his face and then the other before his hands wrapped the human’s throat. 

Aware but unconcerned that the rest of his team was only a few steps behind him, Gavin snarled furiously as Jameson began to sputter and claw in a desperate attempt to free himself. 

Gavin growled through his rage while the man attempted in vain to fight him. “If you shot him…. if you fucking hurt him I swear to every one of your Gods that you’ll wish you’d died as quickly as Barnes did.” 

Jameson couldn’t have gotten a word out if he’d tried, but began to submit to the superior strength and position above him. 

A voice to Gavin’s left was surprisingly gentle, and impressively calm. “Gavin, stand down.”

An arm wrapped his abdomen from behind and Gavin braced against it, determined to neutralize Jameson as a threat, to whatever end was necessary. A form was pressing against him, face close to his own and the voice was practically in his ear now, “Gavin, hey… it’s ok. Babe, look at me, it’s ok.” 

_ Babe? _ What the fuck? 

It snapped Gavin out of his fury just enough to identify that the voice and body were Stern’s. He didn’t break eye contact with Jameson— ready to resume whatever was necessary if the shitbag so much as looked in the direction of his human— but Gavin loosened his grip on the man’s throat and allowed himself to be pulled off of him. 

Hank and Connor jumped in, grabbing Jameson and handcuffing him while he was more occupied with gulping air through coughing fits than trying to keep running or fighting. 

Stern guided him further away from the commotion, turning and hugging Gavin against his chest, whispering, “Hey,  _ shhh _ , it’s ok.” 

Immediately pulling away from the embrace, Gavin rushed to look the detective over, terrified of finding the worst. Blood ran from Stern’s shoulder but luckily the bullet had little more than grazed him. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” Stern reassured, still gripping Gavin by the forearm. “Come here, I’m fine,” he pulled the android back into a hug. 

His own arms slowly circled Stern, and Gavin let himself sink into the hold... realizing it was the first time anyone had ever hugged him. 

Worry coating his voice, Stern asked, “You’re bleeding, he shot you. Are  _ you _ ok?” 

Gavin buried his nose in his partner’s uninjured shoulder and nodded. “Mhm. I’m fine,” he whispered into the warmth of Stern’s hold. He would need a tech, but he’d be fine—The bullet had missed anything vital. This hug thing, he’d never have guessed this simple action would be worth the hype, but holy shit... no wonder people made references to ‘needing a hug’ all the time.

Sirens in the distance signaled the arrival of backup and Connor began to recite Jameson his Miranda rights, emphasizing that he had the  _ right to remain silent _ as the suspect spewed his garbled threats toward them all. 

Once Jameson was in the backseat of a cruiser, the scene was secure and the activity had died down, the Stern twins and their android partners stood alone in the now even more cluttered living room. Gavin floundered for what he should say, knowing he’d fully blown his machine act. The other three gave him time, but the expectation for him to explain himself hung with a palpable weight between them. “So,” Hank finally breached the topic, “care to fill us in?” Gavin frowned, terrified of the repercussions. 

Stern pressed gently, “You remember, don’t you?”

Closing his eyes, Gavin nodded in defeat.

Hope evident in Stern’s voice, “All of it?”

“Yeah,” Gavin finally admitted, unable to meet his partner’s eyes. “Every bit of it.”

Bewildered, Hank asked, “How, though? How’s that possible?”

“I can’t be reset,” Gavin divulged factually.

Stern’s brows furrowed. “Wait, like, ever?”

“Correct.”

Everyone kinda looked around at one another, trying to grasp the idea. 

“Hank, remember when you kept asking about Kamski?” Gavin looked toward the older android, knowing that of course he’d remember prying for answers a few months back. “...About whether he’d had a hand in making me?”

Hank nodded suspiciously.

“Yeah, well… he did. He made me himself.”

“I fuckin’ knew it!” Hank boasted victoriously. 

“That’s… Crazy,” Connor followed. “What’s that got to do with your memories though? What, did he make you so you couldn’t be reset?

“Yup. Exactly that. I don’t know all of the details honestly,” he rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. “It was a big deal to him though. I was an attempt to create an android version of his dead brother, basically? I have random memory sequences, childhood shit, in my files from things he wanted his brother to have and it’s all complicated, but he said in order for those to never be lost, I couldn’t be erased by anyone but him.”

“You went to CyberLife though,” Connor pointed out, still skeptical, “Wouldn’t the techs know?”

“Nope. There's false relays and failsafes so it all appears successful, even when nothing actually happened.”

“So,” Stern got Gavin’s attention again, “Why would Kamski do all that and then let you end up in some fighting ring?”

“He didn’t have a clue about any of that, I don’t think.” He shook his head. “I guess I was a lot like his brother and I reminded him too much of what he’d lost? It got weird, we argued, he cried all the fucking time and eventually I just... left.. And, he didn’t try to stop me. I was getting along ok on my own really, until the wrong people tricked me and sold me to Barnes.” He looked at them all nervously. This could all fuck him so badly. 

“Yeah,” Stern cleared his throat, “about that…”

_ Fuck _ . 

“That line about how Barnes died… I’m gonna go out on a limb that there’s more to that?” It wasn’t said as an accusation, Gavin could tell there wasn’t any judgement behind it. But Stern was a good cop, and nothing slipped by him. 

“I, uh…” Gavin rubbed his hand along his face, a thing he’d picked up from his partner. He could die for this. Any of this. His internal fans kicked up a notch. “It wasn’t intentional. I swear.” He looked straight at Stern, “I swear to you, it wasn’t on purpose.” 

The detective moved closer, taking Gavin’s hand in his and kissing across his knuckles. “It’s ok. What happened?”

“They dragged me to his place after that fight I guess and most owners, they have those tables you strap android’s on to repair them, but Barnes didn’t have one. Jameson attempted to reset me I think but of course… it didn’t work. Which, he couldn’t have known.” He stared at his hands through the confession. 

“Since I hadn’t been powered down right, when Barnes turned my systems back on, I was so damaged and fucked up, I thought I should still be fighting but only half of my processors were even online.” He snuck a glance at Stern, and found nothing but patient understanding. 

“I never meant to hurt him, I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing until my visual cortex powered up.. and it was already too late. He was dead. I… ran. I was so damaged, I didn’t have a choice but to go to a CyberLife repair center and I just laid down at the door like I’d been dumped there. They fixed me, best they could,” he rubbed at the scar across the bridge of his nose. 

Everyone else stayed quiet, letting him talk. 

“It was just my fucking luck that who would buy a damaged and discounted android? The goddamned DPD. My fucking luck I’d walk straight onto the case investigating a murder  _ I’d _ committed.”

A few beats passed while everyone processed the bizarre story before Connor shrugged emphatically. “Doesn’t sound so much like murder.” He glanced around, testing the approval of the other two. “More like Barnes failed to properly handle his own equipment.”

Hank nodded. “Sure would be hard to prosecute a machine who was just doing what it was being programmed and forced to do.” 

“Don’t know how we’d even question you, really,” Stern added, “being that your memory was totally wiped clean by the dealer since then.”

Gavin blinked back and forth between them all, taking several deep breaths. His systems were running so hot. “You guys are serious?” Gavin questioned nervously. “CyberLife would throw me in a grinder for this… any of this.”

“I’d like to see them try,” Niles bristled. “All of the evidence lines up. Bad life choices.”

“So what about Jameson?” Gavin cautiously asked, “I wasn’t gonna let him go to prison or anything, I knew the evidence wouldn’t actually put him away.”

“Nah,” Stern shrugged, “he won’t go to prison for murder. Shooting a cop though, damaging a police android, evading arrest and the piles of incriminating shit we’ve dug up on him already though, he’ll still have plenty of time coming behind bars.” He pulled Gavin into a half hug, and Gavin leaned into it. Months and months of stress. Years, even… began to melt away. 

“Hey, look at that!” Connor laughed in surprise.

“Huh?” Gavin looked around, confused. 

The human smiled, “Your LED is blue.” 

Stern puffed a laugh through his nose, bringing his arm up to circle Gavin’s neck, pulling his head closer so he could kiss the calm blue indicator. “That’s basically a reflection of your stress level then, right?”

Gavin nodded in his hold. 

“Huh,” Stern responded. He kissed the light again, sighing into Gavin’s hair while his hand rubbed soothing strokes along Gavin’s back. 

Stern simply held him, hugging him tight, for several breaths. With a large sigh, he stilled, Gavin awkwardly balanced in the crook of his arm. And he… kept holding him. Like, beyond the normal timeframe, and a human would’ve been starting to get uncomfortable with the pressure around their neck. Gavin made a small squirm to indicate he wanted to move, and the arm tightened. Gavin asked nervously, “Uh, you ok?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m incredibly happy, actually.”

“Uhhh, ok..” Gavin was very confused. “So, you gonna let me go?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“...Sorry?” Gavin questioned, increasingly baffled.

“Well, you’re telling me,” Stern spoke calmly into his ear. “...that you’ve been lying this entire time we thought you’d been reset.”

_Oh_.  Gavin laughed that specific, nervous ‘please don’t kill me’ laugh and admitted, “Yeah, sorry about that…”

His arm tightened further, “You stood there while I told you I loved you, and said you didn’t even know who I was.”

He tried to squirm again, but his neck was in a vice hold. “Not because I  _ wanted _ to.”

“Mhmm,” Stern hummed, unconvinced. “You’ve let me stress the fuck out for weeks while I though you were gone… not to mention the wild goose chase of this case.”

Hank leaned toward Connor and whispered, “Uh, should we intervene?”

“You didn’t grow up with Niles Stern,” Connor shook his head. “There’s not a chance in hell I’m getting in the middle of this.”

“Where’d that babe stuff go,” Gavin joked, giving a more solid effort to escape, still unsuccessful. 

“Oh it’s still there.” Stern replied, “I really do love you and can’t express how happy I am to have you… like, the real  _ you _ back. And nothing like that stuff they did to you is ever going to happen to you again. You’re safe from them.”

“So, why the fuck,” his voice started to muffle and he turned and struggled to free himself, “mwhat ‘re you doing?!”

“I’m still not entirely sure how safe you are from  _ me _ …”


	5. The fluffy ending you asked for

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You asked for it and I heard you: this needed a fluffier ending! Well it’s not much, but it’s more, and it’s all sappy, cheesy but conclusive fluff 🥰

“I’m taking him home with me at night,” Niles stated factually. He shifted his arm in the sling, still getting used to the device the hospital had rigged him with following yesterday evening’s events. His bone wasn’t broken or anything, but they insisted it would help the muscle heal. “Every night,” he clarified. 

It was 7:54am and Fowler had barely made it into the office before Stern had barged in. The Captain looked from Niles, to Gavin and back to Niles with confusion. “Why?”

“Because studies have shown an increased success rate in androids who spend more time with their handler as opposed to those who are put on a shelf whenever they’re not needed.” It was complete bullshit, Niles had no idea if any such study existed or what it’s findings were if so. “Plus, it’s more convenient to already have him with me when I get an emergency call from home.” That one was true. 

Looking Stern over skeptically, Fowler grunted, “I think Connor used that exact same line…”

Flatly, Niles replied, “And you can’t argue with his success.”

Taking one last look between them before his focus returned to his desk, Fowler waved a hand dismissing them. “Sure, whatever. You’ve got the next 6 weeks off to recover anyway. Just don’t let the android do anything that’ll put us on the evening news.”

Niles actually hesitated, considering whether he could make that promise in good faith. He looked to Gavin, standing at attention to his left, and the android gave a small shrug that Niles translated as, ‘ _ No promises _ .’

“I’ll try my best,” he assured his captain, who’s attention was already absorbed elsewhere. Another dismissive wave motioned for them to leave. 

When Gavin walked into the apartment this time, charging cable and extra suit in hand as his only possessions, he looked around at the space—unsure of how he should approach this change. Elijah had treated him well and all when he’d lived there, but he’d been a constant subject of tests and constructive tweaking and it hadn’t taken long before the weight of his failure to meet the man’s hopes had left him feeling unwelcome. Unwanted. 

Stern asking him to come be part of his home… assuring repeatedly that there was, ’no pressure, no expectations at all,’... well, Gavin had never been offered anything quite like this. He stood awkwardly in the living room, shifting his spare clothes and not sure where to set them down. 

Reading his internal struggle, Stern motioned with his chin, “Right on the counter top is fine,” he said, setting his bag of meds on the opposite counter and juggling his keys and phone from his pocket with his only free hand. “God this thing is going to be a bitch,” he muttered, scowling at the sling.

“I can help you with stuff,” Gavin offered. “Cooking and whatever. Might as well make myself useful if I’m going to be here.”

“You’re not here to be  _ useful _ ,” Stern insisted, “you’re here because I refuse to leave the person I love at work like some spare jacket or coffee mug.”

Their eyes met in silence, exchanging a look. They’d hardly had time to start slinging  _ the ‘L word’ _ around casually, and it felt so strange to hear it spoken with such confidence and ease. “Guess we’ll have to get used to that,” Stern offered with a blush. “Or not,” he quickly added, “if it makes you uncomfortable at all.” 

“Why wouldn’t I want to hear the guy I love say he loves me back?” Gavin replied, smirk growing into a broad grin. 

Sushi sauntered into the room yawning like they’d rudely disturbed her beauty rest. She walked straight up to Gavin with a tentative  _ ‘mew’ _ and this time, the android sat directly down onto the floor. The cat took a half step back, confused by his action until he outstretched his hand toward her. “Hello again, Sushi,” he whispered with a happy sparkle in his eye. He crossed his legs, inviting her into his lap and the black and white cat followed his hand, delighted by the promise of pets. “I’m sorry I ignored you last time,” Gavin apologized, “it was way harder than it looked.”

She sniffed him over as a low rattling purr began to build—no doubt investigating the array of smells from the past twelve or so hours. As soon as he cupped the top of her head, she pushed up into the contact, demanding more of it and he worked several strokes along her back, letting his hails drag slightly. Sushi clearly approved, putting her paws up on his chest like she had the first time they met, her loud purring reverberated against Gavin’s sensors. 

“I think all is forgiven,” Niles teased, quickly adopting a mock serious tone to add, “...everything between you and the cat, anyway.”

“How long are you gonna give me shit for this?” 

Stern quipped with a faux dramatic attitude, “As long as I see fit, thank you very much.”

“Well,” Gavin ignored the human, addressing Sushi instead in the most ridiculous baby voice he could manage, “at least someone in this house knows how to get over shit, huh?” He scratched and rubbed in all the right cat-approved places (he’d seen the memes, he knew the petting-zone chart) and she planted her face repeatedly along his, oblivious to his words and relishing in the attention. 

Stern flopped onto the couch with a pained groan and Gavin had to look over to be sure he hadn’t accidentally upset the man. The human’s eyes were closed, but the small upturn of his lips showed no actual anger. “You look exhausted,” Gavin provided factually, “you should’ve come home last night and gotten some sleep.” Gavin gave Sushi a quick kiss to the top of the head, gently helping her off of him, much to her dismay. “Later,” he promised the cat. He made his way near Stern on the couch, on his uninjured side.

The human turned to face him, wincing momentarily with the pain before smiling again, long sigh leaving through his nose. “Nah. I told you I’d be right there the whole time.”

“It wasn’t a complicated repair. It’ll take a lot more than a bullet hole through some wires to do me in.”

“Talk all you want tough guy… but that thing—” Stern gently flicked his blue LED, “went right back to yellow as soon as we walked into the repair center.”

“You were tired before we even  _ started _ the night though. You should’ve left the room and slept. I wasn’t even powered up through most of their repairs, I wouldn’t have even known.”

Stern smiled softly again, “All the more reason to stay there and make sure they didn’t try anything. I’ll sleep soon enough. I’ve got the next 6 weeks off work to sleep.” He giggled, ”Plus, it’d suck if they actually found some way to reset you this time and I punched a guy with amnesia because I thought he was lying to me again.” 

Gavin’s brow furrowed. “That  _ would _ suck, actually…” 

Opening his arm to invite the android closer, Stern motioned, “Come here.” 

Careful not to jostle him, Gavin scooted up against Niles, bringing his head to rest on the human’s shoulder as the arm wrapped him in a secure hug. It was warm, comforting, protective and relaxing all at once and Gavin melted into it. Yup… he could get used to this hug thing. “How about kissing the guy who remembers everything instead?” Gavin offered, as much to his own surprise as Stern’s. 

“Hmm,” the human hummed in consideration, studying Gavin for a moment to ensure he actually wanted what he’d suggested. “I suppose that would be a much better outcome,” he admitted.

Both leaned in, Niles gently lifting Gavin’s face to meet his own as their lips came together. They stalled there, letting the contact simply linger, Stern moving only slightly to guide Gavin in what to do with his own mouth.  _ ‘This is even better than the hugging stuff _ ,” Gavin thought to himself as he melted further into the human.   


Connor and Hank would be by later, Stern needed to rest and heal, the case would need reports and attention and there would surely be hurdles to overcome. But for now, as Sushi settled in on the back of the couch and Niles’ fingers stroked the small hairs at the nape of Gavin’s neck, Gavin was perfectly happy to just be close to the person he loved and receive his first kissing lesson. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I genuinely appreciate all of the love and comments from those who’ve read my fic! If you’d like to find me and the awesome group that organized this event, come joins us on the Reed900RBB Discord! https://discord.gg/huKkVhwBG7
> 
> If you need more of android Gavin, maybe a imaginative option of how he became android Gavin and you also like to cry a lot, I’d recommend checking out my longer WIP, “Rue the Day.”


End file.
